LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Two women were found dead at the Valley of Fire State Park in southern Nevada Saturday, authorities said.
The cause of their deaths has not been revealed as of Monday, however, the scorching high temperature for that day was 118 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
According to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officials, a group of hikers who had seen two people go out on the hiking trails at Valley of Fire State Park Saturday morning noticed that they had not returned. Though they were not part of the same group, one of the members of the group that returned called dispatchers to report their absence.
When Nevada State Park Police arrived, they found a woman dead on one of the hiking trails. Once the woman was found, rangers requested an LVMPD search and rescue team to help with the search. Search and rescue officers then located another woman dead in a canyon.
The National Park Service recommends that anyone hiking in the heat learn the symptoms of various heat-related illnesses, make a plan for water needs, wear sun protection, start the activity before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m., get wet if possible to help the body cool down, eat salty snacks and have a “cool” backup plan with safer indoor alternatives if the forecast makes such a hike potentially dangerous.
Extreme heat is suspected in an unprecedented number of deaths in the country’s National Parks this year, CNN reports.
Preliminary data provided by NPS shows that, as of 2023, there have been 5 heat-related deaths in the park system, the most of any year since such mortality record-keeping began in 2007.